Interlude: Erawlon Destroyed

In which Imperial Captain Irene Hayes surveys the destruction wrough on Erawlon

The devastated world of Erawlon grew in size as a Lambda Shuttle from the Victory descended towards the surface. Captain Hayes looked at the apparent destruction from orbit and shuddered. Only four hours before, Erawlon has been a calm planet, now its surface was filled with storms and volcanic eruptions. Memories flooded back of the Clone Wars when the shuttle finally flew over the ruined city of Ur-Talok, its spaceport standing defiantly amongst collapsed buildings and debris.

Outside, searing winds blistered her worn skin, as her second, Commander Maximilian Dreen, joined her at the bottom of the shuttle ramp. Scores of refugees huddled at the center of the heavily damaged spaceport, under the watchful eye of a few Stormtroopers.

“We’re doing all we can, but two shuttles isn’t enough…” He started and the Captain nodded, interrupting him. They began walking in silence through the wrecked spaceport.

“How many?” Hayes finally asked him after the long pause. “How many were killed?”

“We estimate ninety six percent of the world’s population are already dead. That number is going up as we speak, we aren’t equipped for this sort of thing.” The Commander answered, a note of regret in his voice.

There was another pause as both officers took in the apocalyptic surroundings, making it hard to imagine how life in Erawlon was just a few hours ago. The weak sobs of a child brought them back to reality. They were now at the edge of the spaceport, far from the shuttle and the refugees. They both rushed ahead to find a young girl, barely eight years hold, hunched over a pile of rubble. In all the confusion, she had been left behind.

Irene moved to grab her gentlely, when she noticed the girl was firmly clasping the bloody hand of a man buried in the rubble. What could be seen of his sleeve left no doubt, he had been working in the spaceport when all of this happened. Deciding to forget about the mystery of how the girl had gotten there, the stern Captain picked her up. No words were exchanged, but the sobbing stopped. Yet, as Commander Dreen reached out to relieve his captain’ burden, the girl clung to the woman who had just rescued her.

“Its alright Max, I’ll take care of her.” Irene Hayes looked out once more at the hellish horizon. “I’ll get the bastards who did this, I don’t care what orders the Moff gave, this is war now.”

Commander Maximilian Dreen nodded in silent approval at the fire he saw in her eyes. Recalling the multiple Clone Wars campaigns he had fought at her side, he almost pitied the poor wretches who had just riled her.

“Captain, I think you’ll want to speak to Sergeant Ilvar, he has an interesting story to tell about what happened here…”